THERE'S never a dull moment at St George's Lane these days with John Barton's men liable to switch from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde mode in the time it takes to wolf down a burger.

After steamrollering Moor Green for 45 minutes on Monday, City promptly took their foot off the gas and almost allowed their bitter rivals to pull something out of the game.

But Mark Owen (no relation in blood to Michael but certainly in spirit) grabbed a third to restore City's two goal advantage and despite a late strike from the visitors, they were deserving 3-2 winners.

The Worcester City machine, after several bouts of coughing and spluttering, has finally trundled into life and Barton's men have turned in two good performances, albeit with the odd lapse here and there.

Saturday's long trip to Newport Isle of Wight offered City the chance to top up their goals' tally but unfortunately only tans were topped up as they spurned a succession of chances.

However the performance was excellent and marked the turning point in their season to date.

The introduction of Marc Burrow at the back and Jamie Hyde down the left seemed to galvanise the side and they produced some sparkling play.

Midfielder Darren Middleton suffered a nightmare in front of goal but his build-up play was excellent and he carried on his form with a superb display against Moor Green, creating a goal for Owen and winning his side a penalty.

City were unfortunate to concede a late goal at Newport but after their own miraculous escapes against Weymouth and Hinckley, Barton and his team were hardly in the position to begrudge them a point.

The only cloud on City's horizon at the moment is their appalling injury list, which shows no sign of easing.

Ian Reed was ruled out of the Newport game (bruised ankle) while veteran Phil Stant picked up a hamstring strain and both missed the Moor Green game.

Burrow limped out of Monday's game and midfielder Jon Holloway battled through with a bruised heel.

When Barton says his squad is stretched to the absolute limit it is no understatement and it is a tribute to City that they are winning games let alone occupying third spot.

One player who could have filled in was Matt Gardiner, but the defender left the club by mutual consent after being substituted halfway through City's dramatic 4-3 victory over Hinckley.

His departure was a shock and it is fair to say the former Hereford United player had not won over the St George's Lane faithful, but it was early days and I feel he had plenty of time to turn his performances round but it was not to be.